With rapid advancement of fabrication of integrated circuits, the electronic technology makes continuous development and progress so that a new generation of chipsets and processors can have more sophisticated interior circuit frames to provide powerful arithmetical ability and more complex operating functions. In particular, they can easily process digital information such as a variety of sounds, images and graphics, and therefore are greatly applied in multimedia electronic products which are preferred and broadly used by consumers.
PlayStation 2 (PS 2) is currently the popular game player since it can provide delicate and smooth pictures with design of the Emotion Engine fabricated by the process and the Graphics Synthesizer. In order to improve the performance of the game players, the related manufacturers continuously produce various peripheral devices to provide more operating functions and options. In particular, since online games are in vogue, the manufacturers in turn provide the game players with peripheral products to connect to the Internet. For the PS 2 game player, consumers can purchase a box-like modem and connect it to the backside panel of the game player through a connector. Hence, through such a modem, the PS 2 game player can either be connected to the Internet or perform a network connection game.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic perspective diagram of a conventional modem 1 for the PS 2 game player. The box-like modem 1 has three connectors 11, 12 and 13 respectively in signal and electrical connection with a motherboard (not shown) and a hard disc 2 of the game player when assembled to the backside of the game player. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 11 at the upper portion of the modem 1 is used to connect with the motherboard for transmission of command and information. The connectors 12 and 13 at the lower portion of the modem 1 are used to connect with the hard disc 2 of the game player. The signal connector 12 is combined to signal pins 22 at the backside of the hard disc 2 for transmission of signals and information. The power connector 13 is combined to power pins 23 at the backside of the hard disc 2 for receiving electricity.
In order to enhance hardware compatibility, a certain of specifications of the hard disc for the PS 2 game player are rigidly delimited. For instance, the distance between the signal pins 22 and the power pins 23 has not be standardized. All sorts of hard discs produced by various manufacturers can be used in the PS 2 game player. However, the specifications of hard discs are not uniform, the modem accompanying the PS 2 game player is hard to be assembled thereto. Particularly, the hard disc 2 when assembled to the PS 2 game player may be firmly fastened onto the left side of the housing of the game player or onto the right side of the housing thereof, and also the distance between the signal pins 22 and the power pins 23 of the hard disc 2 produced by each manufacturer is not the same. Therefore, it is troublesome for the manufacturers of PS 2 game players to determine the relative positions of the connectors 11, 12 and 13 of the modem 1.
To solve the alignment of the connectors 11, 12 and 13, in addition that the connector 11 in the conventional modem 1 for connecting with the motherboard is fixed, the signal connector 12 and the power connector 13 for connecting with the hard disc 2 are designed to be movable right and left at a small distance so as to facilitate adjustment of alignment due to the specification differences of the hard discs of various brands. In such a design, the connectors 11, 12 and 13 are respectively fabricated on three different circuit boards. Quite a lot of components are required, and thus not only do production costs increase, but also the complex assembling prolongs the whole producing cycle and results in unfavorable throughput.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, internal constructions of the conventional connectors in the modem 1 are illustrated. As mentioned in the above, since the connectors 11, 12 and 13 are respectively fabricated on the three different circuit boards, an additional fixed frame 15 is required for the housing of the modem 1 to keep each of the circuit boards firmly fastened thereon and then the fixed frame 15 is assembled to an outer case 17 of the modem 1. FIG. 2 shows the components required to assemble the signal connector 12 onto the fixed frame 15. The connector 11 for connecting with the motherboard of the game player is directly fixed on a main circuit board 110 by the surface mount technology (SMT). As shown in FIG. 2, the main circuit board 110 has a larger size than the others and is slightly smaller than the fixed frame 15 such that it can be fittedly fastened in the space embraced by the sidewall of the fixed frame 15.
The signal connector 12 is fixed on a circuit board 120 of smaller size by SMT or dual in-line package (DIP). A plate 121 is located at the bottom of the circuit board 120. The right and left ends of the plate 121 have a respective rivet 121a. Two fastening screws 122a are used to respectively pass through holes at the two ends of the signal connector 12 and the circuit board 120 in turn to be firmly screwed onto the rivets 121a of the plate 121 so as to lock these three components together. Furthermore, two ends near the center of the plate 121 have a respective rivet 121b corresponding to holes 151 at an edge plate of the fixed frame 15 below the plate 121. Similarly, two fastening screws 122b are used to respectively pass through the holes 151 upward from the bottom of the edge plate of the fixed frame 15 to be firmly screwed onto the rivets 121b of the plate 121 so as to lock the plate 121 onto the edge plate of the fixed frame 15. Since the hole 151 is oval, the plate 121 can move in a small range when locked such that the relative position of the signal connector 12 to the fixed frame 15 can be slightly adjusted.
In order that the signal connector 12 can be adjusted, assembling and material costs are raised because the circuit board 120 for the signal connector 12 is extra fabricated and the fixed frame 15, the plate 121, the rivets 121a and 121b as well as the fastening screws 122a and 122b are additionally required. Moreover, in order to electrically connect the circuit board 120 on which the signal connector 12 is located with the main circuit board 110, busline connections 110a and 120a are respectively mounted on the main circuit board 110 and the circuit board 120 so as to connect both of them through a flexible flat cable (FFC) 123. In such a way, it results in additional costs of two busline connections and a flexible flat cable and more complicated assembling.
Similarly, the design of the power connector 13 is also complicate. FIG. 3 shows the assembling of the power connector 13 onto the fixed frame 15. Another circuit board 130 of smaller size is extra fabricated to combine with the power connector 13. Moreover, another plate 131 is located at the bottom of the circuit board 130. The right and left ends of the plate 131 have a respective rivet 131a. Two fastening screws 132a are used to respectively pass downward as shown in FIG. 3 through holes of the power connector 13 and the circuit board 130 in turn to be firmly screwed onto the rivets 131a of the plate 131 so as to lock these three components together. Furthermore, the center of the plate 131 has a rivet 131b corresponding to a hole 152 at the edge plate of the fixed frame 15 below the plate 131. A fastening screw 132b is used to pass through the hole 152 upward from the bottom of the edge plate of the fixed frame 15 to be firmly screwed onto the rivets 131b of the plate 131 so as to lock the plate 131 onto the edge plate of the fixed frame 15. Since the diameter of the hole 152 is larger than needed, the plate 131 can move in a small range such that the position of the power connector 13 can be adjusted.
In order to electrically connect the circuit board 130 on which the power connector 13 is located with the main circuit board 110, power connections 110b and 130a are respectively mounted on the main circuit board 110 and the circuit board 130 so as to connect both of them through a power cable 133. However, such a design requires the extra circuit board 130 for the power connector 13, the fixed frame 15, the plate 131, the rivets 131a and 131b, the fastening screws 132a and 132b, the power connections 110b and 130a as well as the power cable 133. Hence, assembling and material costs are also raised and the assembling procedure is more complicated.